Reuters
"British regulators are setting up an independent company that will advance variable recurring payments, allowing third-party financial service providers to access banking information and initiate payments on behalf of consumers or businesses."
Bloomberg
"Apple Inc. and Alphabet Inc. were hit with UK antitrust investigations over concerns their dominance in mobile services is distorting the market and putting up barriers to entry for competitors."
PR Newswire
"Ally Financial Inc. and CardWorks, Inc. announced that they have entered into a definitive agreement for CardWorks, and its wholly-owned bank subsidiary, Merrick Bank, to acquire Ally's credit card business, including a portfolio of $2.3 billion in credit card receivables with 1.3 million active cardholders as of Dec. 31, 2024."
Crowdfund Insider
"Amazon has signed an agreement to acquire Axio, a Bengaluru-based digital lending firm that provides credit access to underserved individuals and households across India. The acquisition, which awaits regulatory approval, is expected to bolster Amazon’s footprint in digital lending and strengthen its efforts to offer affordable credit solutions."
The Portugal News
"SIBS, the owner of Multibanco and MB Way, has filed an administrative action against Banco de Portugal. At issue is the different understanding that the regulator and the supervised company have of a European regulation that aims to ensure, on the one hand, that the operations carried out by SIBS are covered by EU legislation — given that there were transactions from Multibanco network services, such as payments for services or transfers, which were not covered — and, on the other hand, the separation between payment and processing systems."
TechCrunch
"Indonesia’s antitrust agency KPPU fined Google 202.5 billion Rupiahs, equivalent to $12.6 million, on Wednesday for antitrust violation related to its payment system services for the Google Play Store."
NFCW
"Mastercard is testing a new service that enables cardholders to simply tap their contactless bank card to their NFC smartphone in order to complete an ecommerce or other card-not-present transaction. The new Tap to Pay service is being piloted by Ingresse in Brazil and also by food and beverage (F&B) platform OpenRice in Hong Kong and It forms part of a new ‘Tap to More’ service suite."
Business Wire
"Mbanq, a globally leading provider of Banking-as-a-Service (BaaS) and financial technology solutions, partners with P2P, a digital financial platform dedicated to serving the Brazilian immigrant community in the United States."
Business Wire
"Marqeta’s scalable, global platform is enabling leading investing app Trading 212 to enter 20 new European markets in six months through its card program."
Nocash
"The improved fingerprint enrollment solution makes onboarding faster and more user-friendly. The new solution uses a battery-less USB-C dongle in tandem with a user’s smartphone—compatible with both iOS or Android."
Business Wire
"JetBlue announced it is the first airline to accept Venmo, offering customers an easy and secure payment option when booking flights directly with JetBlue online."
Business Wire
"Matera has released its latest Pix by the Numbers report, showcasing the remarkable growth of Brazil’s Pix payment system and its innovative developments for 2025."
European Payments Council
"The European Payments Council (EPC) announced the start of the delivery project for the EPC Directory Service (EDS), after selecting Swift as supplier for the development and operations of the EDS and after signing an agreement at the end of 2024. Swift has been selected as EDS provider after a Request for Proposal (RFP) process running in the second and third quarters of 2024 and the subsequent approval by the EPC Board in September 2024."
Worldline
"This partnership combines Wix’s intuitive platform to create and manage an online presence and extensive commerce tools with Worldline’s integrated payment acceptance powered by localised acquiring capabilities to offer merchants an all-in-one solution."
Kenyans.co.ke
"The government has fast-tracked the creation of a mobile payment system that will allow Kenyans to send and receive money instantly, irrespective of the type of bank a customer belongs to."
Visa
"The Walt Disney Company and Visa announced a strategic alliance that will bring a host of benefits and offers to millions of Disney fans across Europe, Middle East and Africa (EMEA). The multi-year relationship will make Visa the Official Payment Partner of Disneyland Paris, as well as Disney Store and Disney Theatrical Group in EMEA."
Digital Transactions
"New data from JPMorgan Chase & Co. signals the leading U.S. banking company is on track to retain its title as the nation’s largest merchant acquirer, with volume well in excess of $2.5 trillion flowing through its pipes."
TechCabal
"Safaricom’s M-Pesa is set to join the Pesalink network, which could significantly reshape Kenya’s digital payments landscape. In a proposal submitted jointly with the Kenya Bankers Association (KBA) to the Central Bank of Kenya (CBK), Safaricom wants to integrate M-Pesa, Kenya’s largest mobile money platform, into the national interbank payment system, Pesalink, which already connects 39 banks across the country."
MSN
"Luxembourg-based payment bank Banking Circle has agreed to acquire Australian Settlements Limited (ASL) for an undisclosed sum. The move is aimed at supporting Banking Circle’s vision to set up a global hub for real-time clearing and settlement, expediting its Australian expansion."
Swift
Adopting the new global standard for payments is more important than ever. As the financial industry moves closer to the CBPR+ November 2025 deadline, see what’s new.
AASTOCKS.COM
"TENCENT's WeChat Pay has been found to have a vulnerability, according to Hong Kong China News Agency, with a user recently being charged for a successful “face scan payment from a different location”."
Tech In Asia
"Amazon has reached an agreement to acquire the Indian buy-now, pay-later company Axio as part of its expansion into financial services in India. Finalized in December 2024, the deal awaits approval from the Reserve Bank of India."
Open Banking Expo
"The UK’s Payment Systems Regulator (PSR) has committed to working closely with the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) to take forward work on the overall framework for commercial Open Banking payments, focusing on the initial phase of Variable Recurring Payments (VRPs), over the next two years."
South China Morning Post
"Alipay, China’s leading mobile payments platform, will bear the expense from unexpected losses that it incurred on Thursday, when a system error gave a 20 per cent discount to an undisclosed number of user transactions."
Business Insider Africa
"In collaboration with Mastercard, the BCP Group will leverage Mastercard Move’s money movement capabilities to enhance cross-border payments for their corporate and individual clients. The collaboration aims to enable near instant, traceable, secure and cost-effective cross-border payments to and from the multiple markets where the BCP Group operates in Africa."
NFCW
"Travellers arriving at Beijing Capital Airport are now able to rent a dedicated mobile payments and local communications device from a service desk in the Terminal 3 arrivals hall, making it quick and easy to access local mobile payments services during their visit to China."
Mastercard
"Mastercard for Government’s new two-part white paper, “Digitalizing the public purse,” explores how payment flows to and from government can harness digital payments."
TechCabal
"Safaricom and Kenyan commercial banks claim the Central Bank’s (CBK) plan to build a fast payment system (FPS) could cost at least $200 million (KES25.9 billion) and take up to four years to complete."
Consumer Financial Protection Bureau
"The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) ordered Block, the operator of the peer-to-peer payments app Cash App, to refund and pay other redress to consumers up to $120 million and pay a penalty of $55 million into the CFPB’s victims relief fund."
Reuters
"Two technology trade groups {NetChoice and TechNet } sued the U.S. Consumer Financial Protection Bureau on Thursday to block a new rule giving the regulator supervisory authority over payment apps and digital wallets from large non-banks."